Quick-acting diaphragm operated gate valve



June 24, 1952 E. G. SMITH ET A1. 2,601,231

QUICK-ACTING DIAPHRAGM OPERATED GATE VALVE Filed Feb. 13, 1948 2SHEETS-SHEET 1 0 JNVENTORS 2 Q 3 .6. GSmz'Z/r QM Cocc/zzarzY/a 2SHEETSSHEET 2 E- G. SMITH ET AL QUICK-ACTING DIAPHRAGM OPERATED GATEVALVE FiledFeb. 15, 1948 June 24, 1952 JNVENIORS E 6. Sm: zh a/lCacc/u'areZ/a Patented June 24, 1952 UNITED STATES FATELN'E' QFFICEQUICK-ACTING DIAPHRAGM" OPERATED GATE VALVE Edmund G. Smith, CedarGrove. and Otell M.

Cocchiarella, Newark, N. J assignors to Equip ment Development 00.,Inc., Montclair, N.-J., a corporation of New Jersey Application February13, 1948, Serial No. 8,146

1 Claim. 1 1

This invention relates to valves and more Particularly to a quick-actingvalve of a type suitableto control the fiow of[lar'g'e quantities, of

liquid. 7

In valves having an opening ,of'plarge area, the speed of operation. is.limited byjthe distance the moving part must travel betweenfull openandfull closedpositionsf This makes it diflicultto time-accurately thefopenirig'and close ing, or the volume ofliquidflow through the valve,as may be required in certain industrial operations. Also, it isimpossible to start or stop the flow instantaneously. 7

An object of this invention is toi'providea valve of the above typehavinganopening of large area and-adapted to. pass a substantial volumeof fluid, which is capable of opening, and closing substantiallyinstantaneously;

Another object. of the" invention is to provide a .valve :of the abovetype in V which the speed of operation is independentrof the area "ofthe valve opening. I

Another object is to 'provi'de a large quick: acting valve having .noveland improved details of construction and features of operation;

Various other objects and advanta'ges"will'ibe apparent as the nature oftheinvention more fully-disclosed' In accordance with thelpresentinvention, the valve is made spot a stationary valve plate and aslidable valve plate, eachin the form of a grid having a plurality ofelongated narrow openings therein which are arranged-"so that in theopen position of=the slidable grid-the openings are in registration-toprovide a total open area equal to the sum of thaareas of the variousindividual openings. Thevalve is closed by shifting the slidable grid-to- -bri ng .the openings therein'out ofregistration with the openingsin'the stationary grid. The construction is such that aimovementcorresponding to only the width of the 'individualinarrow openings isrequired in shifting the valve from' fully. open to fully closedpositions.

In a. preferred embodiment; theslidable grid is mounted to be actuatedby a pressure controlled diaphragmhaving an area suited to develop theforce required for actuating the slide. Thestationary valve grid is-mounted on 2. flexible support for limitedfree reciprocating movementtoward and away from the'slides so'that it may be broughtto bear'tightlyagainst'the slidable'grid, In'this way the sliding friction isreduced without reducing the sealing properties 2 of the two elementsand the possibility of bindingis eliminated.

Although the novel features which are characteristic of this inventionare pointed out more particularly in the claim, the nature of theinvention will be better understood by referring to the followingdescription, taken in connection-with the accompanying drawings, inwhich a specific embodiment of the invention has been set, forth forpurposes of illustration.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through a valve embodying thepresent invention; and

Figs. 2 and 3 are transverse sections taken on the lines 22-42 and 33respectively of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings more in detail, the valve is shown vascomprising a base or bottom plate It having a drain tap ll closed by aplug 12 and. supporting on one side an inlet housing ii and on the otherside an outlet housing 15. The inlet housing [4 is shown as attached toa bracket ll which is secured to the bottom, plate it by means ofanangle iron It. The outlet housing I5 is secured'to the bottom plateit! by means of an-angle iron [9. The housings i4 and [5 aretapered'from the valve chamber 28 and terminate in flanges 2! and 22respectively which are adapted to be connected to inlet and outlet pipesfor controlling the flow of fluid therethrough;

The bracket H is made in the form of a rectangle extending entirelyaround the valve chamber and at the top is secured by means of an angleiron to a top plate 21. The top of the housing i5 is likewise secured tothe top plate 2'! by an angle iron 2'3.- The sides of the valve chamberare closed by plates 3i! and 3!, (Figs. 2 and 3).

Thebracket I1 is provided with a flange 32 having a rectangular openingin which a stationary valve plate 33 is positioned. The plate 33 is madein the form of a grid having a plurality of elongated, narrow,.horizontal openings tsspaced'vertically therein. A face plate 35 havingsimilar openings is attached to the stationary plate 33 by suitablemeans such as screws 35.. The face. plate 35 may be made or" a plasticmaterial such fasjBakelite oriFormica to prevent wear and scoring" whichmight occur if the sliding parts'were both made'of metal.

The stationary plate 33 is, supported from the flangetz by means of. aflexible diaphragm 38 which may be made of suitable material, such asrubber, and at its inner edge isrclamped to the plate 33 by means of arectangular clamping strip 39 and at its outer edge is clamped to theexcept for the openings 34. A plurality of angle strips 4!, secured tothe four sides of the fiange 32 adjacent the stationary plate 33,provide stops to limit the movement thereof. The plate 33 is held inforward position by the pressure of the liquid and a plurality ofsprings 42 which are seated between clips 43 on the clamping strip 39and bosses 44 formed on the housing [4.

A slide plate 58 is similar in shape and area to the stationary plate 33and contains a plurality of elongated openings which are adapted toregister with the various openings 34 of the stationary plate 33 whenthe valve is in open position, and to be brought out of register withthe openings 34 when the valve is in closed position. The slide plate 50is attached at each side to a rod 52 which extends at its ends throughstationary bearings 53 mounted on flanges 54 which are secured to thehousing l5 by any suitable means, as by welding. The bearings 53 guidethe slide 50 during its limited vertical movement.

At its upper end the slide 58 carries a bracket 56 which is securedthereto by bolts 51 and to which is pivoted a yoke 58 by means of a pin59. The yoke 58 carries a valve rod 60 which extends upwardly through aplate 6| carrying a packing gland held by a follower 82 and is securedat its upper end to a coupling member 65. The coupling member 65 is inturn secured to a rod 66 which is attached to a pressure actuateddiaphragm 61.

The coupling member 65 carries a cross arm which is adapted to slidevertically on the threaded ends of a pair of rods H which are attachedto the plate 6|. A plurality of adjusting nuts 12 are mounted on thethreaded ends of the rods H to provide adjustable stops to limit themovement of the valve rod 60 and the slide 50 in both directions.

The diaphragm 51 is held in a housing which is attached to the upperends of the rods H and is divided by the diaphragm 61 into a pair ofchambers 15 and 11 respectively. The diaphragm B1 is held downwardly bymeans of a spring 18 which is seated between the diaphragm and a nut 19which is threaded onto a pin 80. The pin 88 is provided with a flange 8|which bears against a shoulder 82 formed on a cap 83 which is secured tothe housing 15. The nut 19 is keyed for vertical, but not rotationalmovement in the cap 83. The upper end of the pin 80 may be of a suitableshape to receive an adjusting tool. A closure 84 is removably secured tothe cap 83 for enclosing the end of the pin 88. By suitable adjustmentof the pin 88, the nut I9 is threaded longitudinally therealong so as toadjust the compression of the spring 18 and thereby control theoperating characteristics of the valve. The pin 88 also serves as a stopto limit the upward movement of the diaphragm. The chamber 11 may bevented to the atmosphere by means of a vent 85 and the chamber 16 may beconnected to a suitable source of sub-atmospheric pressure, or suction,by means of a pipe connected to a tapped hole 86 in the housing 15.

In the operation of this device it will be as- 'sumed that the valve isnormally held closed with the slide 50 in its lower position, as shownin Fig. 1, by means of the weight of the sliding parts and the forceexerted by the spring 18. In this position the stationary plate 33 isheld 4 firmly against the slide by means of the springs 42 and by thepressure of the fluid against the face of the plate 33.

When it is desired to open the valve, suction is applied to the chamber16 to cause the diaphragm 61 to deflect upwardly, thereby lifting thevalve shaft and the slide 50 until the arm 10 engages the upper stopnuts 12. The adjustment is such that in this position the elongatedopenings 5| in the slide '50 register with the elongated openings 34 inthe stationary plate 33. The valve is thus brought into fully openposition by a movement of the slide 50 corresponding only to the widthof one of the openings 5|.

The slide 50 is guided during its movement by the bearings 53. Thespring mounting of the stationary plate 33 and the material of the faceplate 35, however, prevent the slide 50 from binding due to materialbecoming wedged therebetween and reduce the friction to a minimum.

It will be noted that this action may be made practically a snap actionprovided the control diaphragm is made of suflicient area and thechamber 16 is connected to a source of suction which is capable ofproducing a rapid change in the pressure of the chamber. Likewise thevalve closes with practically a snap action when the suction in thechamber 16 is released.

This valve is particularly adapted for use in the accurate control ofthe flow of a large quantity of liquid, as for'example in the case of athickener wherein a large controlled quantity of liquid must be fed tothe filter medium at accurately timed intervals.

In accordance with the present invention, as soon as suction is appliedto the chamber 16, the valve is immediately brought to full openposition and a maximum flow of liquid takes place. The flow isimmediately stopped as soon as the suction is out OK from the chamber16. The slide 50 need only be shifted the slight amount necessary toclose the individual openings 34. It will be noted accordingly that, byincreasing the number of openings, the quantity of liquid controlled maybe increased without changing the timing or operation of the valve.Hence, large quantities of liquid can be controlled as accurately assmaller quantities of liquid inasmuch as the amount of movement remainssubstantially the same regardless of the total flow for which the valvemay be designed.

Obviously, the diaphragm may be actuated by positive pressure in thechamber 11 if desired, or the valve may be closed by applying positivepressure to the chamber 16. Other types of quick acting controls,electrical or mechanical, may also be used.

Although a specific embodiment of the invention has been shown forpurposes of illustration, it is to be understood that various changesand adaptations may be made therein as will be readily apparent to aperson skilled in the art. The invention is only to be restricted inaccordance with the scope of the following claim.

What is claimed is:

A quick acting valve comprising a valve housing having inlet and outletports, a plastic seat plate extending across said housing to divide thesame into inlet and outlet chambers, said plate being fixed againstlateral movement in the plane of the plate and having a plurality ofindividual openings therethrough, a sliding valve plate mounted to slideover said seat plate and having openings registering with said firstopenings when in open position, said sliding plate being adapted toclose said first openings when shifted to closed position, means toshift said sliding plate between open and closed positions, guide meansarranged to hold said sliding plate against transverse displacement in adirection at right angles to its opening and closing movements, anannular flexible diaphragm secured around the outer peripheral margin ofthe seat plate and a fixed annular flange attached to the valve housingand secured to the outer periphery of said diaphragm beyond the edge ofsaid seat plate, whereby said diaphrgam provides a seal and also permitslimited reciprocatory movement of the seat plate toward and from saidsliding plate.

EDMUND G. SMITH.

OTELL M. COCCHIARELLA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

